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Friday, February 17, 2012

Feel like branching out a little for 2012? Then this
challenge might just be for you!
The premise is really very simple. It's all about mixing up your reading, pushing your boundaries and exploring new genres. Take a look at the
categories below, and choose one book for each category. It's that easy!
You can choose to try anything from a gentle 4 to the full 16 different genres, and the book you pick for each is entirely up to you!
Before we look at the boring stuff like Rules and How to Join In, check out...

~ THE CATEGORIES ~
1.CLASSICS
This can be any classic work, from Alcott to Zola. Always fancied trying Great Expectations, or finally feel like tackling Jane Eyre? Now's your chance! From the fun to the frightening, the gentle satire to the all-out swashbuckling epic, there are hundreds of years' worth of books to choose from.
2. BIOGRAPHY
This can be modern or historical, biography or autobiography. From the latest celebrity autobiography to an academic biography of Henry VIII - it all counts! Perhaps you fancy a book on your favourite classic movie star, athlete or musician?
3. COOKERY, FOOD ANDWINE
Ideas for this one range from a delectablecookery book to a food memoir (like Nigel Slater's Toast or Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential), a book on wine to the history of marmalade.
4. HISTORY
More scope to indulge a whole range of interests here, including local history, military history or world history. It might be a biography of Anne Boleyn, a book on World War II aircraft, a study of the American civil war, or something with a much smaller focus, like Bill Bryson's At Home or Mark Kurlansky's Salt: A World History. Whatever floats your boat!
5. MODERN FICTION
This covers literary and popular fiction, so you can't really go wrong with this one. From Sophie Kinsella to Haruki Murakami, Wilbur Smith to Isabel Allende, Jenny Colgan to Kate Mosse, you should be able to find something to fit your tastes!
6. GRAPHIC NOVELS AND MANGA
This will be an entirely new genre for me, but I'm looking forward to hitting the library to see what all the fuss is about!
First on my 'to check out' list will be Neil Gaiman's Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes and Alan Moore's V for Vendetta.
7. CRIME AND MYSTERY
This category will cover everything from the genteel Agatha Christie and the scrummy Hannah Swensen Mysteries by Joanne Fluke, through Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson, to the gruesome forensics of Martina Cole and Val McDermid. You could even delve into some gritty true crime if that's more your style.
8. HORROR
One for Hallowe'en, perhaps! Maybe a modern writer like Stephen King or James Herbert, or you could turn to the classics with Edgar Allen Poe or the ghostly writings of M.R. James? Some YA novels would also fit into this category - Darren Shan, orLindsey Barraclough's Long Lankin - but no paranormal romance!
9. ROMANCE
I'd say the cheesier the better for this one, but it's up to you! Mills and Boon, paranormal romance, chick lit fluff, whatever. Personally I'll be browsing our Mills and Boon shelf at the shop and pulling out the trashiest title I can find! :)
10. SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
Again, plenty of scope here. From the hilarious characters of Terry Pratchett's Discworld to Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings, Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mysteries to Frank Herbert's Dune, you can go modern or classic, and pick from any number of sub-genres.﻿
11.TRAVEL
The world is your oyster, as it were! Maybe you're going somewhere interesting on holiday and want to read up on it first? Rough Guides, Lonely Planet guides, that kind of thing. You could pick a Bill Bryson (always popular) or choose a book on a particular city, country or continent, like Francesco da Mosto's Venice or one of Michael Palin's books. Then there are all the delectable memoirs by people who've moved abroad and opened a taverna/olive farm/vineyard!
12. POETRY AND DRAMA
This could be a novelty collection of limericks, a collection by a particular poet, or if that sounds a bit daunting, a single, longer narrative poem. How about 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', 'Hiawatha' or 'The Waste Land'? My particular favourite is probably Christina Rossetti's
'Goblin Market', which is more like a simple fairytale that just happens to rhyme. Or you could choose a play - how about Ibsen, Miller, Shakespeare or the brilliantly witty Wilde?
13. JOURNALISM AND HUMOUR
This one might take a little more thinking about, but it should be a bit of fun! Journalism collections can range from Nick Hornby's Shakespeare Wrote for Money to Marian Keyes's Under the Duvet, Jeremy Clarkson's The World According to Clarkson to Bill Bryson's
Notes from a Big Country. Anything that's been published in a newspaper or magazine first! Humour could be a book of cartoons, a novelty joke book or The Wicked Wit of Oscar Wilde!
14. SCIENCE AND NATURAL HISTORY

Again, this one throws the doors wide open for you to follow your interests. Always fancied learning more about space? Are you curious about the life of Charles Darwin? Or got a lifelong love for a particular animal? There are some wonderful 'popular science' books around too, including things like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, David Attenborough's natural history books, and the entire works of the brilliantly funny Mary Roach.
15. CHILDREN'S AND YOUNG ADULTThis leaves the way open for
pretty much anything, whether it's reading The Hungry Caterpillar or The Magical Faraway Tree to your kids, revisiting the joys of The Secret Garden or Treasure Island, or devouring something from the modern tide of YA. Lots of dystopian fiction, coming-of-age novels and supernatural shenanigans to choose from!
16. SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PHILOSOPHYAnother wide area! Books on society and women (Female Chauvinist Pigs, Living Dolls), books on society and children (Toxic Childhood, Nurtureshock), books on how television and the internet are affecting our lives, Jostein Gaarder's
Sophie's World, books on Freud or Marx...Hopefully that's started a few ideas bouncing around and whetted your appetite for 2012!

~ LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION~

MEASURING JUG:
Playing it safe with 1-4 categories

CUPCAKE MIX:
Livening things up with 5-8 categories

MIXING BOWL:
Branching out with 9-12 categories

TWO-TIER CAKE:

Getting ambitious with 13-15 categories

ALL THE TRIMMINGS AND A CHERRY ON TOP:

Going for gold with the full 16!

~ HOW TO PARTICIPATE~
Read one book from each of the challenge categories, using the guidelines above. Don't use the same book for more than one category!
The challenge will run until December 31st 2012, so you can sign up any time during the year.
Create a blog post for the challenge, to keep
track of what you've read. Add review links for each completed book so we can
see how you're getting on. My post, for example, looks like THIS.
The URL you leave in the Mr Linky MUST be a direct link to your challenge post, not to your blog homepage - I don't have time to comb through several months' worth of posts searching for it as the year wears on!
Leave a comment on this post with your blog name (so I can match you to your Linky entry) and your chosen level of participation.
Bookmark this post so you can come back later!
I'll be adding links to update posts over the year, plus you'll have the category guidelines handy if you need them!
At the end of the year, everyone who has read along and hit their chosen target will be entered into a bookish giveaway.
Prizes to be determined!

*********I posted this twice HERE is where I am keeping my books*********

Are you ready to take the challenge!?!The goal of this challenge is to read books by matching antonyms in the title. To help you out, here is a link to a couple of web sites to get you started: Opposite Word and Thesaurus. Your books can be of any genre and any format (ie. paperback, ebook, audiobook, etc.). No short stories.Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are fine. (Re-readreviews must be written within the year 2012; you can not use oldreviews.) You can list your books in advance or list them as you read them. The idea of this challenge came from a Goodreads group. **Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.**Non-Bloggers: Sign up in the comments section. Post your reviews with other book sites (ie. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, Shelfari, etc.) and post the link in the comments section of the Antonym Reading Challenge Review Link. (will post January 1).Example:hot/coldHot: Hot Ice by Nora RobertsCold: Cold Fire by DeanKoontzBonus: Hot Flashes and Cold Creamby Diann Huntmean/generous

January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012
Rules:
Starts January 1, 2012 and ends December 31, 2012
Anyone can join
You don’t have to have a blog to participate.
Non-Bloggers feel free to share your list of books in the comment section of the monthly link up post.
Reviews though not required are always nice.
Audio, E-books, Bound and re-reads all count
There is no need to come up with your list of books in advance.
Challenge crossovers ok
Create a sign up post and link up in the linky below.

This reading challenge is for any genre of Romance with the exception of YA and Erotica. Have fun with this one peeps!

Rules:
Anyone can join
You don't need a blog to participate. For non-bloggers, please leave a comment with a link (if you review somewhere else) to the review or leave a list of the books you read on the monthly link up post.
Audio, ebooks, and bound books are ok.No re-reads
Create a sign up post and post the link in the linky .

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Rules:
Anyone can join.
You don't need a blog to participate.
Non-Bloggers: Post your list of books in the comment section of the wrap-up post on Jamie's blog.
Audio, eBooks, paper, re-reads all count.
No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

Rules:
Anyone can join.
You don't need a blog to participate. If you are a Non-blogger please leave a comment with a
link (if you review elsewhere) to your review or with the book(s) you read.
Audio, ebooks (some libraries allow ebooks to be checked out), bound books are ok.
No re-reads
Create a sign up post and post the link in the linky here.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Details:Similar to the Support your Libraries Challenge, this challenge is all aboutborrowing books from your library and supporting them in whichever way you can.Those of us with ereaders know how easy it is to check books out via that methodas well! The possibilities are endless!! It will only last 3 months.

February - Check out and review one Romance book (even if it just hascharacters who are in love with each other, it qualifies)

March - Check out and review one book with a Green cover!

April - Create and post a library spotlight post (It can be your local library and why it's awesome. I will be spotlighting libraries all month so you can take a look at my examples)I will post a wrap-up post with a linky at the end of each month for you to link up theseposts.________________________________________________________________________________Prizes:

Everyone who signs up and completes their level will get an exclusive Borrowed Book Challenge Award badge to flaunt on their page! Everyone's a winner!At the end of each month she is giving a US participant a book from her library (their choice) or an Internationalparticipant a Amazon e-giftcard worth $5 bucks! Hey, it's something!If you're interested link up your Master post here (you can list all the books you've checked out on that post and give her a little shout out on there as well

from back of book:Edge of Apocalypse pulls you into an adrenaline-fueled political thriller laced with End Times prophecy. From Tim LaHaye, creator and co-author of the world-renowned Left Behind series---the most successful adult fiction series ever written---and Craig Parshall comes an epic story ripped from the headlines of world events and filtered through Scriptural prophecy. Set in the near future, Edge of Apocalypse chronicles the beginning of The End---the earth-shattering events leading up to the Apocalypse foretold in Revelation. Joshua Jordan, former U.S. spy-plane hero turned weapons designer, creates the world's most sophisticated missile defense system, a laser shield code-named Return to Sender. Even as Jordan hopes to secure America against a brazen array of new enemies, he finds himself trapped between international as well as domestic assailants. Global forces conspire to steal the defense weapon even as U.S. government leaders will do anything to stop the nation's impending economic catastrophe---including selling-out Jordan and his weapon. With help from a group of powerfully connected Christian leaders known as The Patriots, Jordan works to save the nation from economic and moral collapse---and to clear his name. As world events begin setting the stage for the 'end of days' foretold in Revelation, Jordan must consider not only the biblical prophecies preached by his wife's pastor, but the personal price he must pay if he is to save the nation he loves.

My Review:I really liked the book. The suspense held throughout the telling of the story. Right at the beginning the action starts and doesn't let up. Set in the near future the events are fictional however, it is just to real. There isn't anything in this book that if one was honest with his or her self couldn't see actually happen.

Spoiler alerts!!!!!!!!!!

Let's start with the phone. The All phone is an all in one device. It's you television, fax, computer etc. The All phone come in many sizes that's why it has taken over everything.

Now let's take on the world in this story. The U.S. government has become so indebted to under nations that everything is for sale including our freedoms which are trumped by the new version of the United Nations. Corruption is rampant within the U.S. as well as other countries. The story centers around the events making the one world government an reality.

So what makes the story real is that it could easily happen. As we (people in general) become complacent and not active in our government policies politicians can use our lack of action to their advantage. The book sounds like a conspiracy theory but I look at it as an warning. You may want to say it is paranoia. Isn't it better to be a little paranoid with your guard up or be blindsided.

I will give you an example. Have you ever seen Demolition Man? The movie stars Sandra Bullock and Slyvester Stallone. In the movie, cars drive themselves. We see this in other movies as well. Now we think this is fiction. Several years back (and I do mean years back) I was watching a program and the were testing cars that drove themselves. The goal was to have sensor is the median barrier on highways that regulated speed keeping cars a certain distance apart and to achieve this the sensor did the driving. The driver would take over once the car got close to the exit. This didn't go anywhere though. Why not? Because at the time people were not ready to give up driving. You think they gave up? You would be wrong. If I want you to do something sometimes coming right out with what I want you to do is too much for you to handle. You will say know. I still want you to do it so I will just take a more slow path to my goal. So what did they do. Came up with cars that help you parallel park. By slowly getting you use to the new technology you become use to the lack of control so that by the time the car that can drive itself is introduced you think of it as a natural progression.

This is the type of thing that this book deals with. Right now we have versions of the All phone. Smartphones really do all the things that we use. We have already made the switch to digital television. Most of the major channels also air their shows on the Internet via their website. So having all television channels broadcast only through the Internet is not far fetch at all.

The way the story deals with government issues is not far fetch either. Other countries with do what the U.N. says of deal with the consequences which usually means not getting aide or trade. World peace is a great concept. A one world government would seem like a good answer to achieve that goal however, it is not natural. Every empire you have tried to rule the world have failed...epically. Having an global economy and a global government are two completely different things but it seems that it is becoming increasingly integrated.

This is really a good story that can open your eyes. Make you aware of events and issues that are going on in the world around you. It is just very well done. So what didn't I like? It not that I didn't like it as that it will isolate certain readers. This is a christian book. I didn't not know that before I read it. It is undeniably there. Faith, the belief in God, and the belief that Jesus Christ died for our sins is very much apart of the plot of this story.

If you are not christian and can get pass that message in the book it is really worth the read in my opinion. I must note that I do love a good conspiracy theory also I am not one to read christian novels so this really surprised me. You may read this and see a good story. You may read this and think its all propaganda. You may read this and it leads you to be more proactive. But one this is for sure it is an entertaining read. So have I hooked ya?

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Welcome to the Slug Club. It never hurts to know the "right" people to help you in certain situation. In many areas of life, networking can make life changing connections.

To join just leave a comment below

Points BreakdownA Hogwarts Class = 1 pointSlug Club = 5 pointsA Hogwarts class & Slug Club = 6 pointsSlug Club 2 or more members same book = 15points + 5points (if for a class) + 1point (if also listed under Charms class) You must leave a comment with your partner or partners name and the book you all are readingSlug Club 2 or more members same book = 15points +10points (if for a lesson) You must leave a comment with your partner or partnersname and the book you all are reading

All you have to do is list the book where they should go. I will take care of the pointsFebruary - Slug Club lesson can be listed under any Hogwarts class where it fits.

February - Read a book of a famous literary character be it Harry Potter, Stephanie Plum, Alex Cross etc. Extra 45points if you post an interview between yourself and the character (be creative, have fun with it)

March/April - Read a biography of someone /autobiography of someone in politics. He or she doesn't not have to be an American politican nor do they have to be alive. There were alot of politics strung throughout the books.

*Extra 20 points - if you choose to do a review on this book see if you can compare it to any of the Harry Potter books.

About Me

Born in the South, lived in the Northeast, and now living back in the South has created this diversity of culture and interests in me. I love creativity and it shows. I am friendly so leave comments, suggestions, and/or tips.

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